A GREATER Vancouver Regional District (GYRD) board decision to allow logging -to continue in- definitely in local water- sheds has drawn opposing reaction from the three North Shore mayors. The decision does not sit well with North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman and By Michael Becker News Reporter West Vancouver District Mayor Mark Sager. But North Vancouver City Mayor Jack Loucks, a former GVRD water committee member, called the move a responsible one. Said Loucks, ‘‘! thought it was a responsible decision, and so I am quite comfortable with it. I think there is an awful lot of ir- responsible talk going on — peo- ple sounding as if they (loggers) are out there devastating the forest. They’re not. It’s a very responsible program. “What they are doing is trying to preserve the forest and the quality of the water. They pick Out areas where the trees are mature enough where they easily fall prey to disease. “Now there are different NEWS photo Tarry Peters FIRE GUTTED a 24-foot Airstream trailer on Tuesday afternoon in North Vancouver. The Norti: Vancouver District Fire Department were called to the rear of 1516 Bruce St. at approximately 12:15 p.m. A_ 31-year-old North Vancouver man suffered burns to his hands and face. In- vestigators believe the fire was caused by a propane leak. The propane ignited when the man lit a kerosene heater. The fire caused approximately $10,000 damage. Emission testing site scotched Railroad crossings raise congestion concerns A VEHICLE emission testing centre for the North ’ Shore scheduled to open in mid-1992 as part of a -provincial program is still looking for a kame. .. And as many as 135,000 vehicles a year may be driving -into Vancouver and Burnaby following a decision Monday night by the North Vancouver District Council planning and development standing commit- tee. The committee unanimously recommended that council withhold the development permit for the centre’s propos- ed site on the McKeen and Wilson property between Philip and Pemberton avenues because of major traffic con- cerns. Tie site lies south of the BC Rail tracks, and district engineering staff say that the number of trains and their length result in significant traf- fic delays at the Pemberton and Philip crossings. In a report to council, staff concluded that the “location of an AirCare vehicle inspection station at the property south of the 6C Rail tracks will result in more traffic being required to cross the tracks at Pemberton and Philip.”’ The higher traffic volumes, according to the report, would further delay area traffic flow. A traffic report by N.D. Lea Consultants Ltd. indicates that in June 199! there were 17 train blockages of the crossings in a 12-hour period. While the average delay varied between 3.3 and 5.3 minutes, maximum delays of By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer 20 and 28 minutes occurred. N.D. Lea suggested building an overpass at Pemberton, and staff expect ‘‘greatly improv- ed’’ traffic access when the overpass is opened. Ald. Jim Cuthbert = said,. however, inat ‘‘the overpass as a solution may well be true, but it is not there now.”’ Cuthbert told staff that until it is, and because of other con- cerns regarding the suitability of the site, he would like alter- native sites considered. Ald. Janice Harris echoed Cuthbert’s concerns and asked if any other sites in Seymour, West Vancouver District or North Vancouver City might be available. District director of develop- ment Richard Plunkett told the committee that the testing cen- tre must serve the entire North Shore and that a central loca- tion was therefore desirable. Warned Plunkett, ‘If we tum this site down then we are sending our residents off the North Shore.” But Ald. Rick Buchols, the planning committee’s chair- man, summed up the commit- tee’s recommendation by say- ing, ‘‘I just don’t think that we can get round the issue of ac- cess.”” NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL The AirCare Program, initi- ated by the B.C. government at the request of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), is scheduled to in- corporate 12 testing stations from Chilliwack to Lions Bay. All vehicles of less than 5,000 kg. will be required to meet an annual auto emission standard prior to the issuance or renewal of their insurance. Ebco-Hamilton will operate all of the testing facilities with no government funding and has selected Intrawest Devel- opment Corp. as the developer of their testing sites. Intrawest’s Bob Mason ap- peared before council last week and said that 10 of the 12 sites had been chosen, but the one for the North Shore had proven the most difficult. Mason told the News that the B.C. government had orig- inally rejected the McKeen and Wilson site, but reconsidered its decision after the difficulties of finding a two-acre site with industrial zoning became ap- parent. Mason said Intrawest did not have another site in mind for the North Shore; he said he did not know what the next step would be other than to sit down with Ebco-Hamilton. Council will consider the committee’s recommendation next week, Friday, March 6, 1992 - North Shore News - 3 Mayors split over watershed logging decision Dykeman, Sager oppose continued logging; Loucks ‘comfortable’ with move schools of thought on that, but that’s what they’ve been follow- ing. They could have cut more, and they haven’t.”” Burt Sager and Dykeman, both members of the GVRD_ water committee, supported « committee recommendation made last year to continue the logging contract for local watersheds to the end of 1992 only. In addition to a logg- ing moratorium, the committee called for an extensive ecological review of the Capilano, Sey:nour and Coquitlam watersheds. But on Friday, the GVRD board supported an amended water committee recommendation that watershed logging, subject to ongoing ecological review, be allowed indefinitely. AS reported in the March ! News, the amendment followed a submission to the committee by IWA-Canada (International Woodworkers of America). Sager said Tuesday that he was surprised by the decision. “T felt that after the water committee had labored fairly long and hard to arrive at a unanimous recommendation and then to have it overturned, was inconsistent,” he said. “~ don’t think that the management of water for a mil- lion and a half people should be driven by 20 jobs. If we’re really concerned about these jobs we could employ them (loggers) to make selective cutting of trees that are really a problem. But to ap- prove contracts for clearcut logg- ing without a solid basis of in- formation is poor,’’ Sager said. Meanwhile Dykeman said a mo- tion on his part to attempt to jet- tison the ‘‘indefinite’’ condition of the decision was not supported. “I'm disappointed that the work of last year didn’t convince people that we needed to make a change. I felt there was a definite decision to change the focus and go to a watershed management program rather than continue a forestry management program. ‘*~Democracy rules, but §& still feel there is an incredible amount of work that needs to be done on watershed management.’’ ' 20% social housing suggested for city But percentage too high for area council members charge A TARGET for a 20% social housing component in North Vancouver City’s res- idential housing stock was called too high during a Feb. 24 policy committee debate on the city’s social housing needs. By Pamela Lang Contributing Writer Aldermen Barbara Sharp and Bill Bell pushed for council ap- proval of the 20% target, but a majority of councillors voted to defer decision on the issue to allow city staff to answer the questions raised at the public pol- icy meeting. . On Monday, city council ap- proved the committee’s recom- mendation to have city staff ex- amine the social housing target further, taking into account the concerns raised by council and the public. Sharp said: at the Feb. 24 meeting that approving her mo- tion was not unreasonable because it called only for council’s com- mitment to one social housing -project this year. The social housing target, recommended by city social plan- ner Cheryl Kathler, suggested a goal of one project annually with between 40 and 50 units. It also recommended an overall social housing target of 20% of the ci- ty’s residential stock with an an- nual review of that target. But Ald. Stella Jo Dean said the figure was far too high for an area as small as the city; she said social housing should be spread over a greater area of the region. Dean also said that before pro- ceeding with a social housing pol- icy, the city should find out what the provincial and federal gov- ernments intended to do about the problem. “With the feds backing away from funding,’’ she said, ‘‘our taxpayers are going to be taxed out of their homes.’’ Bell said that 20% was a good target, but he said the process of reaching that target was not ag- gressive enough. nna et | NORTH VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL Ald. Barbara Perrault said that while she agreed with the policy both morally and philosophically, she said city incomes were too low to be expected to achieve a 20% social housing component. Mayor Jack Loucks agreed. “It’s completely unrealistic,’’ he said. “‘There is no way to get 40 to 50 units annually.”’ He added that city residents would have to accept higher popu- lation densities if social housing needs were to be met. Ald. John Braithwaite agreed that the program was too am- bitious. He said there would also be problems finding neighborhoods willing to accept social housing. But Kathler said the city needs social housing and council should be working towards providing it. City resident Ray Wong said he was concerned about the possible ghettoization of the city with a disproportionately high percentage of social housing than other municipalities. But Kathler told Wong that. the city’s social housing needs were great because the people who need affordable housing already live in the municipality. She said that some lower in- come people have moved to the city because it is currently more affordable. But Wong argued that, because city residents are not as well off as residents in other municipalities, it wasn’t fair to ask them to take on the tax burden that would result from socia! housing. “We can’t afford social hous- .ing,’’ Wong said. City senior Sheila Gilmour told council that while there may in- deed be a need for social housing in the city, there is also a great need for affordable housing for people who do not qualify for government-subsidized units. Many seniors, she said, live in fear of rising rents that are not covered by their fixed incomes. Gilmour added that the city is a See Definition page &